Retail packaging is a continuously evolving and important part of providing retail products as well as marketing for those products. As green initiatives grow, packaging trends move toward using recyclable materials and/or simpler packaging options. In addition, when manufacturing products, even relatively small cost savings per package obtained by either using less material, simplified packaging assembly, simplified coupling of products to packaging, etc. are substantial when multiplied by the thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even higher quantities of a package run for a particular product offering.
The desire for cost savings and green solutions is counterbalanced against a desire for the packaging to provide an aesthetically pleasing look while additionally providing areas to receive copy describing the product, brand, preferred use, etc. Packaging is often the first and/or most direct line of marketing to potential consumer, which increases the importance of packaged product aesthetics.